Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) are potentially the fastest growing and most rapidly adopted consumer electronics product of today. Interestingly, one of the main reasons that the DVD format is so innovative and attractive to consumers and the entertainment industry is exactly what makes it potentially vulnerable to illicit copying. Because DVDs store movies in a digital format that is perfectly reproducible every time movies are recorded and played on DVDs, for the first time one can view movies at home with crystal clarity and high quality audio. Additionally, the fact that the movies are stored digitally also means it is possible for movie companies, and others, to make virtually an infinite number of essentially perfect copies of DVD movies.
Such quality and ease of reproduction has made it extremely convenient for movie companies, for example, to send out thousands of pristine copies of first edition movies to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. These DVDs typically are intended to be viewed only by those individuals who vote for Oscars and other industry awards. However, many of the DVDs have fallen into unauthorized hands and have become the digital blueprint for bootleggers who have copied the DVDs and distributed them both online and in shops abroad. Many such films then show up in pirated DVD form, and the like, shortly after their release into the theaters—and sometimes sooner. Since it is preferable to continue to use a high quality digital medium, such as DVDs, to distribute motion pictures, providing a relatively high level of security to protect the content is desirable. Unfortunately, the illicit copies are of such high quality that movie companies, and the like often lose millions of dollars as a result. In addition, many other content owners in the entertainment industry remain reluctant to provide content on DVDs until such content protection is available. Therefore, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.